UDIED.
Man should study the Kama Sutra and the arts and sciences subordinate
thereto, in addition to the study of the arts and sciences contained in
Dharma and Artha. Even young maids should study this Kama Sutra along
with its arts and sciences before marriage, and after it they should
continue to do so with the consent of their husbands.
Here some learned men object, and say that females, not being allowed to
study any science, should not study the Kama Sutra.
But Vatsyayana is of opinion that this objection does not hold good, for
women already know the practice of Kama Sutra, and that practice is
derived from the Kama Shastra, or the science of Kama itself. Moreover,
it is not only in this but in many other cases that though the practice
of a science is known to all, only a few persons are acquainted with the
rules and laws on which the science is based. Thus the Yadnikas or
sacrificers, though ignorant of grammar, make use of appropriate words
when addressing the different Deities, and do not know how these words
are framed. Again, persons do the duties required of them on auspicious
days, which are fixed by astrology, though they are not acquainted with
the science of astrology. In a like manner riders of horses and
elephants train these animals without knowing the science of training
animals, but from practice only. And similarly the people of the most
distant provinces obey the laws of the kingdom from practice, and
because there is a king over them, and without further reason.[11] And
from experience we find that some women, such as daughters of princes
and their ministers, and public women, are actually versed in the Kama
Shastra.
A female, therefore, should learn the Kama Shastra, or at least a part
of it, by studying its practice from some confidential friend. She
should study alone in private the sixty-four practices that form a part
of the Kama Shastra. Her teacher should be one of the following persons,
viz., the daughter of a nurse brought up with her and already
married,[12] or a female friend who can be trusted in everything, or the
sister of her mother (_i.e._, her aunt), or an old female servant, or a
female beggar who may have formerly lived in the family, or her own
sister, who can always be trusted.
The following are the arts to be studied, together with the Kama
Sutra:--
1. Singing.
2. Playing on musical instruments.
3. Dancing.
4. Union of dancing, singing, and playing ins
|